Feeder bus service design under spatially heterogeneous demand

In rapidly sprawling urban areas and booming intercity express rail networks, efficiently designed feeder bus systems are more essential than ever to transport passengers to and from trunk-line rail terminals. When the feeder service region is sufficiently large, the spatial heterogeneity in demand distribution must be considered. This paper develops continuous approximation models for optimizing a heterogeneous fixed-route feeder network in a rectangular service region next to a rail terminal. Our work enhances previous studies by: (i) optimizing heterogeneous stop spacings along with line spacings and headways; (ii) accounting for passenger boarding and alighting numbers on bus dwell times and patron transfer delays at the rail terminal; and (iii) examining the advantages of asymmetric coordination between trunk and feeder schedules in both service directions. To tackle the increased modeling complexity, we introduce a semi-analytical method that combines analytically derived properties of the optimal solution with an iterative search algorithm. Local transit agencies can readily utilize this approach to design a real fixed-route feeder system. This paper reveals many findings and insights not previously reported. For instance, integrating the heterogeneous stop spacing optimization further reduces the system cost (by 4% under specific operating conditions). The cost savings increase with demand heterogeneity but decrease with the demand rate and service region size. Choosing the layout of feeder lines where buses pick up and drop off passengers along the service region's shorter side also significantly lowers the system cost (by 6% when the service region's aspect ratio is 1 to 2). Furthermore, coordinating trunk and feeder schedules in both service directions yields an additional cost saving of up to 20%.Comment: 30 pages, 9 Figures, 8 Table

Bimodal transit design with heterogeneous demand elasticity under different fare structures

The study develops a new optimisation model to design a bimodal transit system from a microeconomic view to maximise the profit of a transit agency considering heterogeneous demand elasticity and different fare structures. Bimodal transit network parameters are optimized to better serve passenger demand. An elastic demand function is devised to include various time components and incorporate flat, distance-based, and hybrid fares. A nested iterative procedure is developed to find a near-optimal solution. Numerical experiments reveal the following interesting findings. First, the increase in elasticity parameters has a knock-on effect on the financial performance, consequently leading to a net profit reduction. Second, a distance-based fare scheme brings in the least actual demand but makes the most profit, compared with the flat and hybrid fare schemes. Third, passengers prefer using a rail-bus system to a BRT-bus system, especially at a higher demand level

Data-Driven Optimization Models for Feeder Bus Network Design

Urbanization is not a modern phenomenon. However, it is worthwhile to note that the world urban population growth curve has up till recently followed a quadratic-hyperbolic pattern (Korotayey and Khaltourina, 2006). As cities become larger and their population expand, large and growing metropolises have to face the enormous traffic demand. To alleviate the increasing traffic congestion, public transit has been considered as the ideal solution to such troubles and problems restricting urban development. The metro is a type of efficient, dependable and high-capacity public transport adapted in metropolises worldwide. At the same time, the residents from crowded cities migrated to the suburban since 1950s. Such sub-urbanization brings more decentralized travel demands and has challenged to the public transit system. Even the metro lines are extended from inner city to outer city, the commuters living in suburban still have difficulty to get to the rail station due to the limited transportation resources. It is becoming inevitable to develop the regional transit network such as feeder bus that picks up the passengers from various locations and transfer them to the metro stations or transportation hubs. The feeder bus will greatly improve the efficiency of metro stations whose service area in the suburban area is usually limited. Therefore, how to develop a well-integrated feeder system is becoming an important task to planners and engineers. Realizing the above critical issues, the dissertation focus on the feeder bus network design problem (FBNDP) and contributes to three main parts: 1. Develop a data-mining strategy to retrieve OD pair from the large scale of the cellphone data. The OD pairs are able to present the users’ daily behaver including the location of residence, workplace with the timestamp of each trip. The spatial distribution of urban rail transit user demand from the OD pair will help to support the establishment and optimization of the feeder bus network. The dissertation details the procedure of data acquisition and utilization. The machine leaning is applied to predict the travel demand in the future. 2. Present a mathematical model to design the appropriate service area and routing plans for a flexible feeder transit. The proposed model features in utilizing the real-world data input and simultaneously selecting bus stops and designing the route from those targeted stops to urban rail stops. 3. Propose an improved feeder bus network design model to provide precise service to the commuters. Considering the commuters are time-sensitive during the peak hours, the time-windows of each demand is taken in to account when generating the routes and the schedule of feeder bus system. The model aims to pick up the demand within the time-windows of the commuters’ departure time and drop off them within the reasonable time. The commuters will benefit from the shorter waiting time, shorter walking distance and efficient transfer timetable

A continuous model for coordinated pricing of mixed access modes to transit

The land-use pattern for many cities is a central business district surrounded by sprawling suburbs. This pattern can lead to an inefficient and congestion-prone transportation system due to a reliance on automobiles. This is because high-capacity transit is inefficient in low-density areas where insufficient travelers can access transit. This also poses an equity concern as the monetary cost of faster and more expensive travel disproportionately burdens low income travelers, especially when fixed congestion pricing is imposed. This paper presents a deterministic approximation of a discrete choice model for mixed access and mainline transportation modes, meaning that travelers may use different modes to access a mainline system, such as transit. The purpose is to provide a tractable computationally efficient model to address the first/last mile problem using a system-wide pricing policy that can account for heterogeneous values of time; a problem that is difficult to solve efficiently using a stochastic model. The model is structured for a catchment area around a central access point for a mainline mode, approximating choice by comparing modal utility costs. The underlying utility model accommodates both fixed prices (e.g., parking, fixed tolls, and fares) and distance-based unit prices (e.g. taxi fare, bike-share, and distance tolls) that may be set in a coordinated way with respect to value of time. Using numerical analysis to assess accuracy, the deterministic model achieved results within 3% of a stochastic logit-based model, and within 7% of measured values. The optimization of prices using the final model achieved a 22% reduction in generalized travel time and a 30% improvement in the Gini inequity measure from 0.2 to 0.14

Urban Transport in Chennai and Bangalore

This report is intended to facilitate the discussions between the World Bank and the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, City Governments of Chennai and Bangalore, on possibly expanding the Bank's urban transport assistance in these two cities, and elsewhere in the two states. The report consists of a diagnostic chapter, a discussion of pivotal issues, a reformulated strategy, and a menu of possible Bank-funded projects to support this strategy. Case studies of urban transport in Chennai and Bangalore, the basis for the report, are attached. Document type: Boo

Transit Equity Planning in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

This portfolio consists of four sections written as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters in Environmental Studies (MES) degree. Section 1 consists of my research and written contributions towards a report co-written with Sean Hertel and Roger Keil entitled Switching Tracks: Towards Transit Equity in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (Hertel et al, 2015). My contribution comprises Parts 3-7, where a definition of transit equity is advanced, how inequity impacts different publics is highlighted, and some solutions used to address transit inequities are explored. The contents of Section 1 sets the stage for each subsequent section. Section 2 is a long abstract and presentation prepared for an academic conference, co-written and presented with Sean Hertel, intended to situate and connect the work conducted in Section 1 within an academic milieu. The presentation in Section 2 closes with questions posed for further research on how to identify symptoms of transit equity and how to situate transit equity objectives within the planning profession. A proposed methodology towards future research was proposed as a launching point for the research project contribution in Section 3. Finally, Section 2 is intended to help continue the dialogue on transit equity sparked by the Greater Toronto Suburban Working Group (GTSWG), co-chaired by Roger Keil and Sean Hertel, presented by The City Institute of York University (CITY) and hosted by Metrolinx, bringing together academics, planners, community activists, representatives from the development industry and non-profit service sector. Section 3 consists of a research project conducted as a contribution towards a report co-written with Sean Hertel and Roger Keil entitled Next Stop: Equity: Routes to Fairer Transit Access in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (Hertel et al, 2016). I used a case study approach anchored by the literature review conducted in Section 1 to explore five specific neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) to illustrate how transit inequity manifests in various ways at the neighbourhood scale. Section 4 of the portfolio is an article co-written with Sean Hertel to engage with the planning profession, published in the Ontario Planning Journal. Section 4 presents a synopsis of the work on transit equity in Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3. The article establishes the imperative for planners to be active participants in achieving transit equity. The article advances a working definition of transit equity as it applies to transit planning, why equity in transit planning is important for achieving provincial planning objectives, and how transit equity objectives are situated within the planning regime in Ontario

Towards a discussion of support to urban transport development in india

The purpose of this policy note is to respond to the request from the Government of India for the World Bank to provide support to the development of the urban transport agenda in India and to provide lending support. During the discussions between the World Bank and the Government of India represented by the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) agreed on a three year program of support 2005-2008 reflected in the World Bank's Country Strategy for India September 15, 2004. Support is currently reflected in the operations program as an urban transport project under consideration and as a policy note as part of the non-lending services. In conjunction with these operations support to urban roads are included in Chennai under the Tamil Nadu Third Urban Development Project and in Bangalore under the Karnataka Municipal Reform Project. Document type: Boo

SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT: THE ISSUE OF EQUITY IN THE EMERGING BRIC COUNTRIES

Although sustainable frameworks for transportation have been widely discussed in the transportation planning field in recent decades, the issue of equity in transportation systems is still relatively unexplored in comparison to the other pillars of sustainability. Globally, the concept of equity gains different nuances in developed and developing countries, and have yet new implications when considering fast emerging nations. The objective of this paper is to investigate how transit policies in fast emerging economies are used to distribute equitable access to benefits and opportunities; and to derive lessons that can orient future cohorts of emerging cities and countries to use transit as means to provide equitable improvements in accessibility. Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) have been treated as a unit since the turn of the millennium when economic analysts noticed similar patterns of extraordinary productivity and growth, and are the forerunners of a group of nations expected to become major economic actors on the global stage in a few decades. Case studies on the most populous and prominent metropolises of the BRIC countries were conducted, exploring three aspects of transit systems as they impact equity: system ownership and planning processes; mode predominance and choices; and fare structures and collection methods. Sao Paulo, Moscow, Mumbai and Shanghai were selected as case studies subjects because of their location in those fast emerging nations and because of their status as recognized global cities. This investigation revealed emerging nations are trying to equip their transit systems to deal with the pressures of growing population size and density, rising incomes, increasing rates of private automobile ownership and sprawling land use patterns. In order to cope with this new and fast changing environment, subjects sought to engage in long-range transportation planning, partnered with private entities for the provision of capital investment or operations, acted to strengthen (or implement) heavy rail as the anchor-mode, and moved towards automated fare collection methods. Lessons derived from these cities will serve to provide guidelines to equitable transit programs in fast emerging cities across the developed world that facing similar pressures, and to orient future research towards more complete economic efficiency evaluations of transit systems in emerging countries